Donald Trump’s ‘Art of the Deal’ Ghostwriter Says “This is a Man Who’s Lost a Great Deal Mentally”

Donald Trump's ghostwriter for his autobiography and advice book Trump: The Art of the Deal is raising new questions about Trump's mental capacity. The assertions were made by Tony Schwartz, a former journalist and outspoken Trump opponent, during an interview with Ari Melber of MSNBC on Thursday. In addition, he compared the business tycoon he knew in the 1980s to someone he 'somewhat interacted with' during the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, calling the billionaire a dramatically changed person.

As reported by The Independent, Schwartz said, "This is a man who’s lost a great deal mentally. This notion that he, that he is still, like, capable of exciting a crowd, I’m just not sure that I believe — beyond that 20 or 25 percent that are absolutely the core — is true anymore." The comments followed Vice President Kamala Harris's mocking of Trump at their September 10 debate, in which she said that Trump's public speeches are so long and winding that attendees leave his rallies 'out of exhaustion and boredom.'

Schwartz used Trump's dismal showing in the first debate between the two candidates, which took place on September 10, to argue that Trump 'sure seems to have lost a step or two.' Schwartz added, "Of all the people I’ve watched deal with him over the years, Kamala has put him on his back feet more so, starting in the debate, but continuously, he literally cannot get his footing. And I don’t think he will."

After spending months interviewing Trump, Schwartz is recognized as the only author of The Art of the Deal, even though he is only named as a co-author. Schwartz expressed a deep sense of remorse in a 2019 interview with CBS News on his role in Trump's ascent to fame in the late 1980s, which led to his political career. He said at the time, "Once Trump began to run, I spent two and a half years out there trying to warn people about who this man is. It's something I can't ever really fully make right." Trump became famous after publishing this book in 1987. It combines elements of both autobiography and business. During his 2016 campaign, Trump often used the book to support his assertion that he was an expert negotiator.

Schwartz admitted to CBS that he had preconceived notions about Trump being a 'bad guy' for the novel. Schwartz exposed Trump's real estate empire in a New York Times exposé just before he accepted the agreement. According to the story, Trump sought to have rent-stabilized residents evicted from a Manhattan building so that he could construct high-end apartments there. His findings, he said, demonstrated that Trump was prepared to 'push the envelope very, very intensely when it came to the law.' That being the case, Schwartz said that he ought to have declined the chance to ghostwrite.